The present invention relates to a designing system for computer-aided access communication networks, and more particularly to a designing system for computer-aided access communication networks for calculating the configuration of low deployment cost access communication networks to satisfy given demands under constraints regarding the quality of communication, positioning of equipment deployment among other factors, and civil-engineered equipment needed therefor.
Published achievements of the related prior art include (1) the Gazette of the Japanese Patent Laid-open no. Hei 4-316157 and (2) a paper by Hiroyuki Kawakami et al. contained in the 1996 Communications Society Convention of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, B-792, 1996.
In these prior art designing systems for access communication networks, the equipment involved is not definitely classified into communication equipment and civil-engineered equipment, and moreover, when automatic designing is to be accomplished, the network designer can make neither editing nor definition regarding what to do with the existing equipment.
More specifically, even if there already is some equipment, everything has to be deleted and, the existing equipment being supposed to be inexistent, the configuration of a low deployment cost access communication network and the position of its deployment should be calculated anew under constraints regarding the quality of communication among other factors, from geographical information, subscription demand information, equipment information and, in addition to them, design parameter information.
However, the conventional access network designing system referred to above involves the following problems.
First, it permits no design which reuses existing communication equipment and civil-engineered equipment related to a narrowband access communication network, whose scenario is the most common for the development of a broadband access communication network base.
The reason is that communication equipment and civil-engineered equipment are not classified for discrete management.
Second, it does not allow the network designer to define the eligible site for the deployment of the equipment as he or she prefers.
The reason is the use of a system by which the eligible site for deployment is not edited and merely attributes are extracted from map data as keys.
Third it permits no automatic designing by an addition formula in which the location of the equipment is designated in advance of automatic designing or reuse only the unoccupied capacity with the existing equipment location being fixed, and therefore neither a design with limitation of the equipment site nor a design to reduce cost by reuse of existing equipment is possible.
The reason is that it is important to use only the unoccupied capacity of each equipment unit, whose position is fixed, or give a designation allowing deletion.